Spring-guard attachment for corn-harvesters.



J. H. BREEN.

SPRING GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR GORN HABVESTBBS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED 11011.15, 1010.

1,001,577, 1 P1161161 Aug. 22, 1911.

l/WENTUR Jonw ff. fi/PE'EN,

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAFH C0-- WMNXNGION. D. C-

JOHN HENRY BREEN, OF EDEN VALLEY, MINNESOTA.

SPRING-GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR GORN-HABVESTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

.Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

Application filed November 15. 1910. Serial No. 552.442.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that it. Join ll. Hanna. a citizen of the United States. and a resident ot Eden Valley. in the county o't Meeker and State of Minnesota, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Spring- (tuard, Attachments tor (lorndlarvesters.ot which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to iinprovements in corn harvesters and it consists in the com: binations, arrangcl'nents. and constrlu'tions herein described and claimed.

in many (it the corn harvesters now in use there are inclined guides called dividers, between which the stalks of corn are carried and which are designed to maintain them in an upright position bet'oro delivery to the binder table. The stalks are conveyed by means of Sl'Jl'OPlUt chains. l' t ot'ten happens. however. that the corn is not delivered to the binder table in a vertical position with the result that the ejectors oil the binder are unable to catch all ot the bundle. and tail to throw it clear oi the binder table. thereby clogging the (in-coming corn in the passage.-

'ay between the dividers.

An object ot my invention is to provide an attachment which may be secured directly to the under side of the dividers. which is in the nature ot a spring guard tor preventing inclining ot the stalks in their movement toward the binder table, or rather tor holding them in a vertical position.

A further object oi my invention is to provide a simple device which may b. attached to the under side oi the dividers of the ordinary corn harvesters, without dismantling the machine or interfering with the Working parts thereof.

A further object of my 'invontitm is to provide a spring guard, which consists of few parts and is not liable to get out of order, and is of low cost to manufactaire.

Other objects and ad antages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

.Iy invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a central sectional view showing one ot the spring guards attached to one of the dividers. Fig. 2 a plan view of the dividers showing the spring guards attached thereto, one of the upper dividers being cut away to show more clearly the construction of the device. Fig. 3 is a perspective View ot one of the guards, in an inverted position to show attachment of spring.

in carrying out my invention i provide a pair of spring guards such as those shown in Fig. I). A description o'l one will sutlice tor both. since they are precisely the same, ex'ccpt that one is made For the right side and the other for the left. In the drawings l have shown the guard as being constructed o! a triangular piece of metal '1 havii'lg the [hinges 2 and 3. which are turned inwardly trom the main body portion. The flanges 2 and I) are secured together at their contiguous ends and are exteiuled at their opposite ends past thc main body portion. as shown at it and t. respectively. A bolt and nut 5 secure the portions 5? and 3 together. This bolt extends through a spiral spring (3, one end of which. as shown at 7, is secured to the flange 3. the other end being bent laterally. as shown at 8, and having a slightly curved end S". The guard is made of metal.

In Fig. 'l i have shown one hall of the machine. it will be seen that there are three dividers on this side (it the machine. an upper one it), a central one 10 and a lower one '10". ()n the opposite side oil? the machine there are three similar dividers oppositely disposed. including the divider Shothcr dividers corrcspoiuting to l( and 10, on the opposite side of the passage way. The central dividers arc cach provided with sprocket; chains. such as those shown at E) and 10, which are carried by sprockets l0, l0 and 10. One oi" the guards constructed as described is secured to the under side of one ot the dividers it) in :lront of the shalt oil the sprocket '10, with its spring arm projecting across the space between corresponding dividers. The other spring guard is secured to the under side of the divider on the opposite side ot the passage way corresponding to t0 at the rear ot the axis ot the sprocket 9. The spring arm of the rear guard 1ne1n ber extends across the space between the dividers in the opposite direction. The arrangen'ient oi. the guards in this manner is so as to catch the corn where it leaves the s 'n-ocket conveyor chains.

From the 'loregoing description of the parts ot the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The corn is passing between the dividers as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. Any of the corn which has a tendency to fall down, is caught by the spring guards and held in a vertical position until the pressure is such that the arm yields so as to allow the corn to pass. It is then caught by the second spring arm and held until the pressure is great enough to force the spring arm aside, when it is delivered to the binder table. In practice I have found that the use of two guards, one on each side is essential for the reason that it is impossible for a single guard to hold the corn in a vertical position and to return in time to catch the on-coming stream of corn stalks before they fall. In my device one arm is returning while the other arm is holding and thus the stalks are prevented from falling. The member 1 acts as a shield and a support for the spring arm.

By the use of my invention any material which is harvested, such as weeds, grass, etc., which have loose contact with the conveyer chains, are held in a vertical position until delivered to the packers on the binder table. This prevents the clogging of the binder and the loss of time in stopping and clearing out the obstruction.

I am aware that guards have been placed on the conveyer chains, but these guards do not accomplish the function which mine does. Mine are stationary, and the spring arms hold the corn in a vertical position until the corn has reached the binder table. Moreover the spring guards when once placed in position require no adjustment whatever.

I claim:

1. The combination with the conveyer chains, front and rear sprockets, and dividers of a corn harvester, of a guard member secured to the under side of one of said dividers in front of the rear sprocket wheel and having a spring arm extending toward the other divider, a second guard secured to the under side of the other divider in the rear of said rear sprocket wheel and having a similar spring arm extending toward the first mentioned divider.

2. The combination with the conveyer chains, front and rear sprockets, and dividers of a corn harvester, of a guard member secured to the under side of one of said dividers in front of the rear sprocket wheel and having a spring arm extending toward the other divider, and a second guard secured to the under side of the other divider in the rear of said rear sprocket wheel and having a similar spring arm extending toward the first mentioned divider, each of said spring arms being provided with a downwardly extending shield portion on the side of the guard from which its arm projects.

JOHN HENRY BREEN. Witnesses CATHRINE J BREEN, CHARLES MCDONALD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

